


Nos

by pikablob



Series: The Multiverse [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Post-Smoke and Shadow, Science Fiction Elements, Stealth Crossover, prison break - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikablob/pseuds/pikablob
Summary: Stripped of his bending and imprisoned for his crimes, Ozai receives an offer from an unexpected visitor.





	Nos

The first sign that something was wrong was distant shouting, muffled by the heavy metal door that separated Ozai from freedom. He sat up, listening with interest to the sound, but couldn’t make anything being said. The guard beside his cell must have heard it too; he stepped towards the door and slipped into a firebending stance.

After a moment the sound stopped. The guard paused for a moment, then shrugged and leant back against the tower wall. It seemed whatever the commotion was had died down.

There was a boom of explosives going off. The door swung violently in, lock shattered into fragments. Smoke billowed from behind it. The guard panicked. A knife whizzed through the doorway and wedged into his throat. He fell back, gasping, and crumpled to the floor.

Ozai stood up in surprise, approaching the bars of his cell. Through the smoke the assailant stepped into the room: a tall, slender woman whose face and body were all concealed by black robes. She turned to face him, revealing the yellow eyes of a Fire Nation native.

“And you are?” he asked.

“Nobody important,” she replied with a voice he was sure he had heard somewhere before. “I’ve come on behalf of my organisation, to make you an offer.”

“I’m listening.”

“We want your help,” she explained. “If you are willing to work for us, I’m authorised to extract you from this place. By working for us, you’ll regain your freedom and what was taken from you.”

Ozai raised an eyebrow; there was no way this ‘organisation’, whoever they were, would have the clout to put him back on the throne. His son may have been useless, but even if the whole Fire Nation somehow wanted him back the rest of the world wouldn’t stand for it.

“And how exactly do you plan on making me Fire Lord now?” he demanded. The assassin rolled her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant.” Before she could say anything more, the sound of pounding feet echoed through the dungeon, getting louder and louder. He stepped back, watching the assassin to see how she would react.

She sat down, and leant against the wall beside the guard’s corpse. There was a crackling sound, like distant lightning, and as he watched her appearance completely changed. Her black robes gave way to dented guard’s armour, and wounds appeared on her suddenly-visible face. It twisted into a pained expression.

“Keep your mouth shut,” she ordered.

Two more guards burst through the broken door, weapons drawn. They stopped dead, taking in the corpse and their apparently wounded comrade; one fixed Ozai with a glare while the other dashed over to the assassin.

“Are you okay?!” he asked frantically.

“I’m fine, ugh,” the assassin replied, putting on a convincing imitation of pain.

“Where did the intruder go?!” the second guard demanded.

“They escaped,” she answered. “Headed towards the west wing. I couldn’t go after them, not like this.”

“Okay,” the first guard nodded. “Wait here; we’ll go after them. I’ll send reinforcements as soon as I can.”

The two guards turned and ran, searching for an intruder that wasn’t there. As soon as she was sure they’d gone, the assassin stood up. With another crackle her appearance changed again, her wounds vanished and the damaged armour repaired. She was a perfect substitute for a real soldier.

“How did you do that?” Ozai demanded.

“My organisation has access to technologies beyond anything you have here,” she replied. “They gave me this power; they should be able to restore your fire.”

“Why wait until now to use it?”

“How do you think I got in here?” she rebuffed. “In truth, you weren’t supposed to know about it until you agreed to join us; hence the show of my arrival.”

He paused, thinking over what had just happened. Whoever this woman was, she had to have some serious support. At best, he regained his firebending through their help; at worst, she was lying and he ended up in another cell. Ultimately, his situation wasn’t likely to get any worse.

“Fine,” he answered.

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

* * *

Their escape vehicle wasn’t anything like Ozai had ever seen. Resting in the dark on the edge of the crater, a short way from the tower, was a large metal box, the size of a small room, painted jet black with a handful of orange markings. The assassin, now disguised as a high-ranking warden, ducked in through the door first. He followed, and it slid shut behind him with a quiet hiss.

Ahead of him stood three soldiers, all wearing dark grey armour and carrying unfamiliar weapons. The assassin went to join them; as she did, her appearance dissolved again. This time, instead of another disguise, he was greeted with a black armoured bodysuit with small orange lights glowing in several places. A helmet covered her face, with an orange glass visor with three glowing lines forming an ‘N’ shape across it.

“Fire Lord Ozai…?”

He turned, just in time to see a man in prisoner’s robes bowing to him in the corner of the compartment. The man straightened again, and he instantly recognised the face.

“Governor Ukano,” he greeted. “Are you the one behind this?”

“No,” the man asserted, “I know as little as you. They won’t even tell me why I’m here.” Upon hearing this, a couple of the soldiers exchanged looks, then glanced over at the assassin. She had approached one of the walls of the craft, and was interacting with a device built into it.

“This is Special Operative Nos,” she said after a moment. “The target was extracted successfully, but we need to make a detour. We’ll depart as soon as possible.” She turned away, back to the group of soldiers. “We need to set down at sixty-five north by thirteen west.”

“Yes ma’am,” one of them replied, turning and disappearing through a door into another part of the machine. After a moment there was a low rumble, and the whole thing shook slightly as it lifted into the air.

The flight was short and awkward. Nobody in the compartment seemed to feel like speaking; Ozai knew there was no point in questioning these people, and Ukano had immediately proved of no use. Finally the craft set down again, landing with a dull thud through the hull. The door slid open.

Beyond, the high walls of a Fire Nation country manor loomed out of the darkness. Nos turned to Ukano. “Get out,” she ordered flatly.

He opened his mouth to protest, then thought better and shut it again. Slowly he walked to the exit. Just as he was stepping through, Nos reached up and pulled her helmet free. Neat black hair fell down to her waist. He looked back.

“Mai?!”

The door slammed shut. Mai frowned slightly, setting her helmet down on a bench built into one of the walls. As the engines rumbled back online, she turned to Ozai.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” he observed. “What was that about?”

“Father’s no use to us,” she admitted, “But I couldn’t leave him there.” There was a twinge in her voice, and he got the sense she wasn’t happy she felt that way. There was a moment of silence.

“What happened to you and my son?” he asked. She frowned, and paused a moment as if trying to think of how to respond. Finally, she looked him in the eyes.

“I… miscalculated.”


End file.
